Aston Martin plans a measured future for special cars

Aston Martin special cars: a more measured approach

Having previously sat at the head of Bentley, Aston Martin boss Adrian Hallmark had looked on with envy at his new firm’s catalogue of ‘special’ cars – the truly special machines, including the Victor, Valour and Valiant.

He intends to keep producing such cars, but at a controlled, deliberate and, in his words, ‘boring’ pace rather than firing them out in rapid succession.

“What Aston has done so far, from afar, I was jealous of,” Hallmark said at a recent media briefing. “[At Bentley] We did a standing start job on 100 Baturs, Bacalars and Batur convertibles, Blowers and Speed Sixes… great fun. Sold them straight off the bat.

“Fine. But it’s probably 120 cars in total. And you look at what we’ve [Aston] done – one model, 300 [cars]. At £1.5m. So that’s a big difference between here and there, and not many brands can achieve that in terms of brand appeal and price realisation. We’re very fortunate we’re blessed with that opportunity.”

Vanquish and Valhalla to underpin future specials

Even with that opportunity available, Hallmark considers it unsustainable. “So we’re going to slow it down a bit and get boring,” he said about future special cars. “We’re going to use Vanquish and Valhalla as the basis to do a couple of specials. And only those. And do them in the right time according to a credible development period and pre-marketing.”

As is customary for exclusive machines of this kind, the plan is to sell them before the public has even seen them. “We’re not going to go specials crazy, because there is a finite market for these cars as well,” he added.

Hallmark would not disclose technical specifics. He only confirmed that the specials would draw on the “core technologies” and technical foundations of the Vanquish and Valhalla to create “a completely different concept”. He also pointed out that the Valhalla’s mid-engined platform is so ‘sophisticated’ that it could not be used as the basis for a less expensive mid-engined model.

Adrian Newey and the Aston Martin Valkyrie

On the subject of sophistication, Hallmark has also spoken with Adrian Newey – who now works for Aston Martin – about the V12-powered, high-revving Valkyrie.

“We talked about Valkyrie for most of the conversation,” Hallmark said of his meeting with Newey, referring in particular to the continuing improvements being made to the pioneering hypercar to address problems encountered in real-world use.

However, its exceptionally tight tolerances and entirely distinctive construction mean Hallmark has no wish to repeat that undertaking any time soon.

“Not many car companies can afford, financially or emotionally, to do a car that is so far ahead of themselves and everybody else, every year – it would kill you.”